Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Gilmore is aware that that is not the basis at all, but it was a nice populist throwaway. The issue is as follows. It is not a question of saving money to the State in terms of the wage rates. The whole idea of wage rates is to try to make sure that we get the maximum level of employment we can and the maximum flexibility in the labour market in labour intensive sectors such as the hospitality and retail sector, for example, who have been saying for some time that they would like to see changes on these matters.

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